Carbamazepine, or 5H-dibenz[b,f]azepine-5-carboxamide, is a widely used antiepileptic agent. It is available in the U.S. as Tegretol brand chewable tablets of 100 mg, tablets of 200 mg and suspension of 100 mg/5 mL, intended for oral administration as a treatment for epilepsy or as a specific analgesic for trigeminal neuralgia. Other brand names include Equetro, Carbatrol, Tegretol XR and Epitol. Generic versions of these oral dosage forms are also available. Dosage forms include Carbatrol available in 100, 200, and 300 mg strengths; and Tegretol XR, available in 100, 200, and 400 mg strengths.
As shown in Table 1, recommended maintenance dosage levels in adults and children over 12 years of age are 800-1200 mg daily, although up to 2400 mg daily have been used in adults. In children of 6 to 12 years of age, the maintenance dosage level is usually 20-30 mg/kg/d and in children less than 6 years old the maintenance dosage level is usually 10-20 mg/kg/d.
TABLE 1Labeled dosage for carbamazepine oral dosage forms.RecommendedDosing FrequencyDaily(for IRAgeMaintenance Doseformulations)<6 yrs10-20 mg/kg2-4 doses/day6-12 yrs20-30 mg/kg2-4 doses/daymax dose 1000 mgChildren >12 yrs400-1200 mg2-4 doses/day1600-2400 mgAdults-epilepsy800-1200 mg3-4 divided dosessome pts require1600-2400 mgAdults-400-800 mg  2 doses/daytrigeminalmax dose 1200 mgneuralgiaAdults-bipolarDoses greater  2 doses/daydisorderthan 1600 mghave not beenstudiedNote:only Equetro, an extended release formulation is approved for bipolar disorder.
For complex partial seizures (temporal lobe, psychomotor), carbamazepine is a widely used anticonvulsant drug. It is also of proven efficacy in the treatment of generalized tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures. Carbamazepine has also been used in treating simple partial (focal or Jacksonian) seizures and in patients with mixed seizure patterns which include the above, or other partial or generalized seizures. It is not used in the treatment of absence seizures (petit mal).
In addition to its proven effectiveness, carbamazepine has, in many respects, a more favorable profile in terms of the incidence and severity of side-effects than other anticonvulsants. Thus, carbamazepine is less sedating and causes less intellectual function impairment than other antiepileptic drugs such as phenobarbital, primidone and phenyloin. Furthermore, carbamazepine does not precipitate gingival hypertrophy, hirsutism, acne or other undesired effects associated with phenyloin. These attributes have helped to make carbamazepine the drug of choice in women and children.
Use of carbamazepine is complicated by incomplete, slow and variable absorption; extensive protein binding; and induction of its own metabolism. From Spina E Chapter 21 in Antiepileptic Drugs 5th edition. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, 2002 pp 236-246 and references cited therein. The absolute bioavailability (the percentage of a dose that reaches the bloodstream) for the immediate release and extended release tablets has previously been estimated to range from 75-85 although the absence of an intravenous formulation has precluded systematic study of the extent and inter-patient variability in absorption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,089 to Bodor mentions the lack of an injectable formulation for carbamazepine, noting that therefore there has not been precise information relating to the drug's absolute bioavailability. In addition, the lack of an injectable formulation for carbamazepine means that there is no method for providing emergent carbamazepine therapy to a patient in need thereof, as occurs when patients are undergoing surgery, have certain gastro-intestinal diseases, are unconscious or have seizures that preclude oral drug administration, or that require rapid re-establishment of steady state plasma levels.
The absence of an intravenous formulation places patients treated with carbamazepine (sometimes referred to herein as CBZ) at substantial medical risk. Sudden discontinuation of CBZ therapy for whatever reason, can expose an individual to potentially life threatening seizure emergencies. The only alternative is to give the patient a different drug that is available as an intravenous formulation. Exposure to a new medications exposes the patient to adverse reactions and unknown efficacy.
Cyclodextrins, sometimes referred to as Schardinger's dextrins, were first isolated by Villiers in 1891 as a digest of Bacillus amylobacter on potato starch. The foundations of cyclodextrin chemistry were laid down by Schardinger in the period 1903-1911. Until 1970, however, only small amounts of cyclodextrins could be produced in the laboratory and the high production cost prevented the usage of cyclodextrins in industry. In recent years, dramatic improvements in cyclodextrin production and purification have been achieved and cyclodextrins have become much less expensive, thereby making the industrial application of cyclodextrins possible.
Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides with hydroxyl groups on the outer surface and a void cavity in the center. Their outer surface is hydrophilic, and therefore they are usually soluble in water, but the cavity has a lipophilic character. The most common cyclodextrins are α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin and γ-cyclodextrin, consisting of 6, 7 and 8 α-1,4-linked glucose units, respectively. The number of these units determines the size of the cavity.
Cyclodextrins are capable of forming inclusion complexes with a wide variety of hydrophobic molecules by taking up a whole molecule (a “guest molecule”), or some part of it, into the void cavity. The stability of the resulting complex depends on how well the guest molecule fits into the cyclodextrin cavity. Common cyclodextrin derivatives are formed by alkylation (e.g., methyl-and-ethyl β-cyclodextrin) or hydroxyalkylation of the hydroxyethyl-derivatives of α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrin) or by substituting the primary hydroxyl groups with saccharides (e.g., glucosyl- and maltosyl-β-cyclodextrin). Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and its preparation by propylene oxide addition to β-cyclodextrin, and hydroxyethyl-β-cyclodextrin and its preparation by ethylene oxide addition to β-cyclodextrin, were described in a patent of Gramera et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,731, issued August 1969) over 35 years ago.
Although cyclodextrins have been used to increase the solubility, dissolution rate and/or stability of a great many compounds, it is also known there are many drugs for which cyclodextrin complexation either is not possible or yields no advantages. See J. Szejtli, Cyclodextrins in Drug Formulations: Part II, Pharmaceutical Technology, 24-38, August, 1991. Despite this potential pharmaceutical utility, certain cyclodextrins are have limitations.
Cyclodextrins and their derivatives are mostly crystalline solids. Concentration of some cyclodextrins in the renal tissue is followed by crystal formation causing necrotic damage to the cells. Despite forming water soluble clathrate complexes, the crystalline cyclodextrin drug complexes have generally been limited in their utility to sublingual or topical administration.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,134,127 and 5,376,645, whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference, are directed to novel cyclodextrin derivatives, in particular sulfoalkyl cyclodextrin derivatives, that overcome the limitations of other cyclodextrins. In particular, the sulfoalkyl cyclodextrin derivatives disclosed therein exhibit lower nephrotoxicity while exhibiting high aqueous solubility.
The present invention is based, inter alia, on the determination that carbamazepine stable inclusion complexes with cyclodextrins are highly water soluble relative to the non-complexed drug. Surprisingly and unexpectedly, the carbamazepine-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of the invention result in an injectable formulation that provides significant benefits and advantages over other carbamazepine formulations. For example, the carbamazepine-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of the present invention are completely bioavailable, delivering 100% of the dose to the bloodstream in a consistent and predictable manner which is not the case with solid oral dosage forms. Also, unlike solid oral dosage forms, the carbamazepine-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of the present invention can be administered to a patient suffering from a generalized tonic-clonic or other acute seizure via a peripheral rather than oral route. The carbamazepine-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of the present invention satisfy a significant unmet medical need for a stable injectable formulation of carbamazepine that overcomes the limitations of poorly soluble and variably absorbed oral formulations.